AEDs and defibrillators (Germany)
A list of checks and obligations with their cadence, ready to add to your agenda.
For German companies, sports clubs and public bodies that already own a defibrillator or are considering one. The first control states what most commercial pages avoid saying: there is no general duty to provide an AED, only a non-binding recommendation. The rest of the kit covers the duty that does exist once you own one — the safety check at least every two years, the retention of the records, the qualification of whoever performs it, the exemption for lay AEDs with self-test, and the rule change from 1 January 2027. First-aider training and first-aid organisation are not covered here; they sit in the workplace safety kit.
Questions about this product?
Ask what is in the manuals, how often the maintenance is due and what it takes to do it.
What it already has at hand
- No manual on this page
- 8 planned checks, the most frequent every 24 months since the last inspection
Planned checks
Informative summary verified on 12/09/2026. It does not replace legal advice: the regulation cited prevails. If you spot an error, report it.
Some checks are only mandatory in certain countries: pick yours and the list follows.
In Italy this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In France this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
- 01
Prepare for automatic self-test reporting from 2027
From 1 January 2027 new lay AEDs that rely on the self-test exemption from the safety check must also record the self-test results and transmit them automatically to the operator: remote monitoring, no longer just an indicator to look at. Anyone buying a device now has one more reason to check that the chosen model can do this. For devices already installed, use the date as a review point: work out whether your fleet falls under the new rule and, if not, how the exemption is kept.
by 01/01/2027Legal obligation§ 12 MPBetreibV (Fassung m.W.v. 20.02.2025)Germany onlySourceverified on 12/09/2026 - 02
Keep the safety check records for 5 years
The record of every safety check must be kept for five years by the operator of the device and made available to the medical devices authority. It is worth filing it together with the serial number and the date the device went into service, because that date sets the deadline for the next check. If the device moves site or changes company, the documentation follows it: the party answerable is whoever operates it at the time of the inspection.
continuous check, confirm every 12 monthsLegal obligation§ 12 MPBetreibVGermany onlySourceverified on 12/09/2026 - 03
Have the AED safety check done at least every 2 years
Whoever owns a defibrillator is its operator under the medical devices ordinance and must have a safety check carried out at least every two years. The deadline falls at the end of the month in which the device was put into service or in which the last check was done, and must be brought forward where the conditions of use require it. A qualified service technician or the manufacturer service performs it, not in-house staff. The evidence is the safety check record: without it the duty cannot be demonstrated.
every 24 months since the last inspectionLegal obligation§ 12 MPBetreibVGermany onlySourceverified on 12/09/2026 - 04
Return spent batteries to a free take-back point
When the defibrillator battery reaches end of life — expired, exhausted or because the device is being retired — it falls under the general free take-back duty of the German batteries act: producers and retailers must take it back at no cost. Lithium batteries under 500 grams, the type typical of AEDs, may be handed in at ordinary battery collection points in supermarkets, hardware stores and filling stations. They never belong in general waste. The text of the batteries act was not reread while writing this card: the framework is moving towards the European batteries regulation, so it is worth confirming the route with your supplier.
continuous checkLegal obligationBattG; Verordnung (EU) 2023/1542Germany only - 05
Establish that no duty to provide an AED exists
No German law requires a company, an office or a sports club to have a defibrillator: the statutory accident insurance recommends one where the risk is high, where many people gather or where the ambulance takes more than ten minutes, but that is a recommendation, not a prescription. The decision belongs to the employer and follows from the risk assessment and the first-aid organisation. This control exists to put the decision — to provide one or not — in writing and to revisit it when the site, the headcount or the activity changes; what is genuinely compulsory is first-aider training.
continuous check, confirm every 12 monthsRecommendedDGUV Information 204-010 (Empfehlung, nicht verbindlich)Germany onlySourceverified on 12/09/2026 - 06
Visually check lay AEDs exempt from the safety check
An AED intended for use by lay people and installed in a publicly accessible building — an assembly venue, a shop, an office, an administrative or court building — is exempt from the two-yearly safety check if it has a self-test function and the operator carries out continuous visual checks. The exemption holds only while those visual checks actually happen: status indicator, cabinet integrity, pads present and within date. If the device has no self-test, or if the visual check is not done, the two-yearly safety check duty applies again.
continuous check, confirm every 1 monthsLegal obligation§ 12 MPBetreibV (Ausnahmeregelung)Germany onlySourceverified on 12/09/2026 - 07
Track the expiry dates of pads and battery
Pads and battery expire even if the defibrillator is never used, and no German law sets an interval: what counts are the dates printed on the packaging and the manufacturer instructions, which differ from model to model. The operator records serial number, pad type and expiry date and replaces them before the deadline; pads must also be replaced after every use. Six months is the suggested frequency for rereading that list, not a statutory cadence.
continuous check, confirm every 6 monthsRecommendedGermany only - 08
Have the safety check done only by qualified staff
The safety check may be carried out only by someone holding the qualification set out in the medical devices ordinance: training, familiarity with the model and suitable measuring equipment. In practice that means the manufacturer service or an authorised workshop; the operator cannot do it in house, even with an electrician on the payroll. Before signing a service contract it is worth asking on what basis the company claims the qualification: the operator, not the supplier, answers if the check was done by someone not entitled to do it.
continuous check, confirm every 24 monthsLegal obligation§ 5 i.V.m. § 12 MPBetreibVGermany onlySourceverified on 12/09/2026
In Switzerland this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In Austria this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In United Kingdom this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In Spain this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In Portugal this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In United States this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
In Other country this product has no planned checks: the ones listed apply to other countries.
Something not right on this page?
Help us keep it accurate: every report is read by a person.